Egg cartons

ABSTRACT

An egg carton having a tray of plastic and a cover of paperboard, in which carton a rib extends along the respective short sides of the tray and outside the interengagement area of the cover with the tray and is adapted to support the adjacent edge of the cover when the cover is in the closed position.

United States Patent 1 Andersson [451 Sept. 17, 1974 EGG CARTONS [75]Inventor: Sven lngemar Andersson, Ystad,

Sweden [73] Assignee: Torsten Jeppsson AB (and) SvenskaAgghandelsforbundet Foren U.P.A., Johanneshov and Lund, Sweden [22]Filed: July 5, 1-972 [21] Appl. No.: 269,185

[52] US. Cl. 229/44 R, 220/60 R, 229/25 [51] Int. Cl B65d 5/66 [58]Field of Search 229/44 R, 45, 2.5; 220/60 R [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 3,531,044 9/1970 Baker 229/44 R Weiss 229/44 R Medendorp229/44 R Primary ExaminerWilliam I. Price Assistant ExaminerBruce H.Bernstein Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Holman & Stern [57] ABSTRACT An eggcarton having a tray of plastic and a cover of paperboard, in whichcarton a rib extends along the respective short sides of the tray andoutside the interengagement area of the cover with the tray and isadapted to support the adjacent edge of the cover when the cover is inthe closed position.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures EGG CARTONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to a carton for fragile articles, such as eggs, havinga tray divided into article-receiving cells and made from a deep-drawnpiece of plastic film or sheeting, and a cover hingedly connected to thetray and consisting of a creased, folded and glued piece of paper-board,with said tray and said cover being secured together along their oneadjacent margins and the hinge connection between the tray and the coverbeing formed by a crease line defining the portion by which the cover issecured to the tray.

PRIOR ART For instance U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,044 discloses a carton of theabove type. The advantages one expected to gain by a carton of thiskind, viz., simplifying and improving the printing of the decorativeget-up, advertising and informative text on the cover (decoration can beapplied to the cover when it is in the form of a planar blank or even tothe starting material before the cover is punched therefrom) have lostmuch of their importance since they imply a certain weakening of thecarton. The two separate materials which are treated in different wayshave a low mutual friction, for which reason the engaging parts readilyslide relative to each other. In a closed position, the cover issupported by posts between the cells of the tray, which extend in anupward direction from the tray towards the planar 'upper portion of thecover. The outermost posts are spaced from the short sides of thecarton, and eggreceiving cells are provided between the respectiveoutermost posts and the adjacent short sides of the carton. In U.S. Pat.No. 3,531,044, the cover of the carton has the edge of its short sideengaged only with the marginal area of the tray. When handled in storesand in shops by the customers themselves, the cartons are often graspedabout their ends, with the fingers of the hand going beneath the trayand the thumb on top of the cover, and the cartons are thus exposed to apressure which cannot be taken up by the cover edge which engages merelythe tray. As a result, the cover edge and the tray will slide relativeto each other and the carton will be more or less compressed. The eggsin the outermost cells, therefore, are often broken when the customeropens the carton.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To eliminate the disadvantages outlined in theforegoing, the invention provides a carton in which the tray along eachof its edges making right angles with the crease line forming the hingeconnection has a rib which is disposed outside the interengagement areaof the cover with the tray and extends rectilinearly to support theadjacent edge of the cover when the latter is in the closed position.Such a carton resists also very careless handling.

The invention will be more fully described hereinbelow with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of theopen egg carton;

, FIG. 3 is a partial section on a larger scale of the egg carton inclosed position;

FIG. 4 is a section corresponding to FIG. 3 of a modified egg cartonaccording to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The egg carton illustrated in thedrawings comprises a tray 2 provided with egg-receiving cells 1, and acover 3 hingedly connected to the tray 2. The tray 2 is made from apiece of deep-drawn plastic film or sheeting. and the cover 3 from acreased, folded and assembled piece of paperboard. The tray 2 and thecover 3 are connected together by a joint 4 along their one adjacentmarginal portions where both the tray 2 and the cover 3 has a protrudingledge or planar portion 5 and 6, respectively, between which the joint 4is provided. The hinge connection between the tray 2 and the cover 3 isformed by a crease line 7 defining the connecting region or portion 6.

As will appear from the drawings, a respective cell 1 in the tray 2 isdefined by a bottom 8 and side walls 9 which diverge from the bottomsimilar to a comet. The side walls 9 merge in posts 12 upstanding overthe circumferential mouth edge of the tray 2 and the portion 5 definingsaid edge. an opposite portion 10, and portions 11 at right angles withsaid portions 5, 10. In known manner, the posts 12 engage the inner side.of the cover 3 in the closed position of the egg carton, therebypreventing the cover from being pressed inwardly of the carton anddamaging the eggs placed in the tray 2. Locking lugs 13 project from theportion 10; one such lug is visible in the drawings.

As already mentioned, the cover 3 is made from a creased, folded andassembled piece of paperboard. The cover 3 thus has a main panel 14,side panels 15 and end panels 16. The panels 14l6 are relatively definedby corner-forming crease lines 17. One side panel 15 is provided withthe planar portion 6 and the opposite side wall is provided with a lug18 formed with elongate slots 19 which in the closed position of thecover 3 cooperate with the locking lugs 13 to keep the egg carton in aclosed position. The respective end panels 16 comprise a primary panel20 and fastening panels 21 which are integral with the adjacent sidepanel 15 and are united with the primary panel 20 by adhesive, fusibleglue or by welding.

The primary panel 20 has a foldable flap 22 which is secured to theinner side of the primary panel 20. As will appear from the drawings,the side panels 15 and the end panels 16 diverge from the main panel 14.

Along each of the edges (portions 11) which extend at right angles tothe crease line 7, the tray 2 has a rib 23 for supporting the adjacentedge of the cover 3 when the latter is in closed position. As willappear from FIG. 4, facing sides 24 of the ribs 23 may converge in adirection away from the tray 2. As a result, the ribs 23 will also exerta locking action on the closed cover. Opposite sides 25 of the ribs 23may preferably, as will appear from FIG. 4, diverge in a direction awayfrom the tray 2. The ribs 23 rigidify the tray 2 and also strengthen thecover by their engagement with it in the closed position of the eggcarton.

The aforementioned assembling of the cover and the connection thereof tothe tray along the joint 4 may be effected by adhesive, fusible glue. bywelding or in any other suitable manner.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A carton for fragile articles, such as eggs, including 7 a traydivided into article-receiving cells and made from a deep-drawn piece ofplastic film or sheeting, and a cover hingedly connected to the tray andconsisting of a creased, folded and assembled piece of paperboard, saidtray and said cover being secured together along their one adjacentmargins and the hinge connection between the tray and the cover beingprovided by IJN ETED sums MTENT oFFIcE" CERTEFEQATE @F -RREUHN PatentNo, 3,836,057 I Dated September 17, 1974 Inventor(s) Sven IngemarAndersson A It is certified that error appears in the above-identifiedpatent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

[30] Foreign Priority Data Swedish No. 8638/71 filed July 5 1971 Signedand sealed this 18th day of February 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

' C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C; MASON Commissioner of Patents AttestingOfficer and Trademarks USCOMMDC 60376-P69 3 FORM F'O-1050 (0-69)

1. A carton for fragile articles, such as eggs, including a tray dividedinto article-receiving cells and made from a deep-drawn piece of plasticfilm or sheeting, and a cover hingedly connected to the tray andconsisting of a creased, folded and assembled piece of paper-board, saidtray and said cover being secured together along their one adjacentmargins and the hinge connection between the tray and the cover beingprovided by a crease line defining the portion by which the cover issecured to the tray, in which the tray along each of its edges makingright angles with the crease line providing the hinge connectionincludes a rib, said rib being disposed oUtside the interengagement areaof the cover with the tray and extending rectilinearly to support theadjacent edge of the cover when the cover is in closed position.
 2. Thecarton as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ribs have facing sides whichconverge towards each other as viewed in a direction away from the tray.